


A day on the beach

by Windfighter



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: M/M, Sorry Emil, no beta we publish our first drafts like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 14:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15293172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windfighter/pseuds/Windfighter
Summary: A swift ball to the face sure can bring a lot of consequences.





	A day on the beach

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Super summery drawing](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/397818) by Minna Sundberg. 



> Was watching Minna do a live drawing on Twitch when I got inspired to this little story. Which, as with most of my stories, grew longer than I had planned, but whatcha gonna do?

Emil's face was on fire. He fell backwards, flailed, but the ground was there too quickly. His left knee hit it first, then his leg, and then his body landed on top of the leg. He felt something snap in the knee and his scream cut through what had been a peaceful scene just seconds before. Blood flow from his nose, stained his face, slipped into his mouth and coloured the sand beneath him.He twisted his body, rolled over to his right side and pulled his knee to his chest. It was burning even worse than his face.

”Emil!?”

Reynir's voice sounded so far away. Emil clenched his eyes shut, clenched his mouth shut, tried to feel anything except pain, but it was everywhere.

”Emil, I'm so sorry, are you okay?!”

”Do I _look_ okay?!”

He tried glaring at Reynir, but he felt tears in his eyes and shut them again. He spit blood on the sand, tried to wipe his face clean on his shoulder. It didn't work. His hands still clutched around his leg.

”I'm so sorry, I didn't mean...”

”Emil”, Mikkel's voice. ”Emil, let me see.”

Emil tried glaring again, but he couldn't. His breathing had gotten shorter, the pain was even worse, his knee throbbed, his face throbbed and everything was sticky. His head felt foggy, like it was swimming in a wast ocean and was getting exhausted. He tried to shake it, tried to clear it, but it made the pain in his nose explode and he bit his lip to keep the scream inside. Mikkel forced him to let go of his leg, he felt something press against his face, something wet and cold. He tried moving away, but felt something move in his knee, sending another jolt of pain from it and he screamed again.

”You are better off staying still, you know.”

”Hrg...”

”I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen...”

”...that's not icecream, is it?”

”Sigrun is fetching some ice, it will feel better soon.”

”Oh gods, it's icecream.”

”I'm sorry, I didn't have anything else...”

Some of the throbbing in his nose had subsided, but having his face all gross with both blood and icecream... He'd get all kinds of cancer like this, he was certain of it. Mikkel's hands pressed against his knee and the fire got more intense. Emil moved forwards, tried to roll himself into a ball to protect himself from the pain, but his nose pressed right into Reynir's palm. The throbbing that had subsided returned tenfold. He froze, his head swam again, threatened to collapse into a singularity, a black hole. He felt two knees press against his back, one hand on his shoulder, an arm across his chest. Lalli.

”Idiot”, Lalli whispered.

Emil could barely make his voice out. Mikkel's hands pulled at his knee, stretched his leg. Another scream slipped from Emil, but he couldn't move, Lalli's arms held him in place. The icecream disappeared from his face, was replaced with fabric, very cold and damp fabric.

”How bad is it?”

”It is nothing to worry about. He will be up and running again in no time.”

For some reason Emil didn't trust Mikkel's words. He opened an eye, looked towards Mikkel, but there was a towel in the way. Mikkel let go of his knee and placed something very cold against it. He heard Reynir move and them Mikkel removed the towel that was pressed against his face. Mikkel's fingers touched his nose and he winced.

”...Your nose is broken.”

”Hn.”

”It is nothing to worry about.”

”Mf.”

Mikkel placed the towel against his face again. Emil's right hand stopped clutching his leg and grabbed the towel instead, held it in place. He watched as Mikkel got up, put his hands to his sides and looked at Sigrun.

”...We should still call an ambulance though, he is not going to be able to move.”

Emil's left hand let go of his leg as well, patted Lalli's arm. Lalli removed it, let go of his shoulder and he sat up, still held the towel to his face.

”I can move.”

His head was spinning a little though and he had to support himself or he'd fall right back down. Reynr sat down next to him and as much as he didn't want to lean against him he did anyway. Lalli disappeared back into the shadows and Emil closed his eyes. Mikkel's hands grabbed his leg again, stretched his knee and he dropped the towel, flinched, twisted and tried to pull away. Something popped in it. The pain overwhelmed Emil's head, he was blacking out. Next thing he knew he was lying down, his head resting on something soft and Reynir was looking at him worriedly. The taste of copper was strong in his mouth and throat and he felt sick, like he was about to throw up.

”Are you okay? How are you feeling?”

”...I'm dying, aren't I?”

”Of course you aren't”, Mikkel laughed. ”You have a broken nose and a couple torn ligaments. Nothing to worry about.”

”......”

”Of course, unless it gets taken care of soon it might evolve into bonecancer.”

”I'd trust you more if I hadn't already fallen for that five times already.”

He made a move to sit up, but Reynir placed his hands on Emil's shoulders and Emil stayed down. His head was still fuzzy, still between awareness and blackness and he had no clue how much time had passed when the ambulance arrived. The pain increased while they splinted his leg, then subsided a little when they were done. He heard the others argue about whether anyone should go with him and who it should be, but Lalli snuck into the ambulance before they could agree.

”We will see you at the hospital later, Emil. Do not worry, you will not be alone in this.”

He nodded at Mikkel's words, then the paramedics closed the doors and they were off.

 

Emil had been in and out of conciousness, especially after he had been given the painkillers which made him more than a little drowzy. Lalli had been by his side when the doctors told him how bad it was, but he couldn't remember exactly what they had said. He was half-sitting in the bed, his leg raised to keep the swelling under controll. Lalli was sleeping on one side of his bed, Reynir on the other and he was flipping through a magazine. His nose felt better now, and he had gotten most of the taste of copper away with some intense drinking. He fiddled with Reynir's braid, pulled his fingers through Reynir's forelocks. Reynir blinked, looked at him.

”Emil? You awake?”

”Mm...”

Emil stopped playing with Reynir's hair and turned to the paper again. Reynir sat up, fixed Emil's hair and fluffed his pillow.

”You should rest.”

”I know, but...”

”Does it hurt? Should I call the doctor?”

Emil shook his head.

”It's okay.”

He put the paper down, put his hand on Lalli's shoulder. Reynir leaned down, ruffled his hair and kissed his head.

”Go back to sleep. The doctor said you need your rest. It'll help you heal.”

”Mm...”

Emil fixed the strands of Lalli's hair that had gotten ruffled then leaned his head back against the pillow again. Reynir took the magazine, put it on the table. Lalli grabbed Emil's hand, used it as a pillow. Reynir sat down again, grabbed Emil's other hand.

”We're here if you need something.”

”I know.” Emil squeezed Reynir's hand. ”Thank you.”

He closed his eyes, felt Reynir's fingers fix his hair again and fell back asleep. The next time he woke up it was morning and the doctor was standing at the end of his bed. Lalli was awake, sat on the edge of his bed and squeezed his hand. That must have been what woke him up. He tried sitting up, but his body still felt kind of weak, not really listening to him. Reynir entered the room, must have seen what he was trying to do because he instantly went to his side and raised the bed for him.

”We'll help”, Lalli said and Emil blinked.

”What... what'd I miss?”

”I just told your... friends?” the doctor raised an eyebrow. ”...here that we're going to have to amputate your leg. Your knee can't be saved, you did some irreparable damage to it. I'm sorry, but it's the only thing we can do.”

Emil bit his lip, glanced at Lalli, at Reynir, didn't know what to say. Mikkel had said it was only torn ligaments, that he'd be up and running again soon, what had happened?

”Y...you're joking.”

”I'm sorry, mister Västerström, but there really is no other option.”

He could have sworn that the doctor's lip was twitching. Reynir placed a hand on his shoulder and Emil looked at him. There were tears in his eyes and Emil knew he was blaming himself. Emil grabbed his hand, squeezed it and Reynir sat down on the bed as well.

”D-don't worry, we'll help you. We'll get through this together, you won't be alone with it. It'll be... It'll be alright.”

Lalli stretched over the bed, placed a hand on the back of Reynir's head and pulled him closer, rested his forehead against Reynir's. Reynir closed his eyes, took a deep breath and grabbed Lalli's hand, squeezed it and then let go and pulled back. He smiled at Emil.

”It'll work out, you'll see.”

Mikkel entered, leaned against the door frame and smiled. The doctor also smiled and looked at Mikkel.

”Very easy to trick, you were right.” He turned back to Emil. ”Don't worry, you only tore a couple of the tendons in your knee. You'll have to stay off it for a few weeks, and then there will be some physical therapy in store for you, but in a few months you'll be able to use it as normal again.”

Emil grabbed his pillow and threw it at Mikkel, glared. Mikkel caught it and tried to look offended.

”I did not do anything.”

”You put him up to this. Blast it Mikkel, you scared the crap out of Reynir!”

”The looks on your faces were priceless though.”

Emil leaned back, but without the pillow it was uncomfortable and he blushed, pulled his hand free from Reynir's grip and held it towards Mikkel.

”...Can I have the pillow back?”

Mikkel threw it. Emil didn't manage to get his arms to move, to catch it, but Lalli caught it instead. He put the pillow behind Emil, fixed his hair and then sat down on the chair, still with Emil's hand in his. Reynir's shoulders relaxed and Emil felt relief wash over him. As much as he didn't want to lose his leg, having Reynir feel responsible for causing it would have been even worse. He squeezed Reynir's shoulder.

”Everything's fine.”

Reynir nodded, forced a smile.

”Except that you'll need to walk on crutches for a while.”

Emil grimaced, groaned and closed his eyes. For a while was better than forever, but still... He let out a sigh, looked towards the doctor.

”Does that mean I'll be out of here soon?”

”In the afternoon. One of the nurses will be here in a couple of hours to help you fit a brace and learn to use crutches and after that you can go home.”

Both Reynir and Lalli seemed relieved, and Emil closed his eyes again, muttered a thanks and drifted off again.

 

Fitting the brace went quickly and painlessly (mostly thanks to the painkillers he was still on), but he had a lot more trouble learning to navigate the crutches. He had almost fallen over three times before even taking a step and the only thing saving him from faceplanting was the nurse. He was getting increasingly frustrated at it, but Reynir was cheering him on and he wouldn't be allowed to leave unless he managed to figure it out so he tried again. Lalli's hands saved him from faceplanting this time and he leaned against Lalli, hid his face in Lalli's shoulder.

”This sucks, I can't do it. I'm useless.”

”You're not.”

Lalli stroke his back, muttered soothing words into his ear. Emil pushed himself free of Lalli's grip to try again. Lalli stayed right next to him, the nurse on the other side. Reynir smiled at him, waited for him to be able to go over there. Emil took a deep breath, then made a new attempt to move. His knee was starting to throb, but he managed two, four, six steps and then Reynir caught him. Emil let go of the crutches, wrapped his arms around Reynir. He didn't want to take another step. It was fine here, everything was fine, it was perfect. Lalli's arms wrapped around the two of them, nothing could be better, nothing.

The throbbing in his knee increased, it felt like it was growing bigger by the second, like it would explode at any minute and he drew a shaky breath. Reynir slipped out of their grip and he leaned against Lalli, wrapped his arm around Lalli's frame instead. Reynir handed him the crutches and he had to let go, had to get back to the bed. It felt better once he was back on his back, with his leg propped up.

”It will probably be painful for a couple of days”, the nurse said, ”but try to be up and moving as much as you can. It'll increase the bloodflow and make the healing go quicker. Plus your other muscles won't weaken that way.”

”Mm”, Emil agreed half-heartedly.

The nurse said he'd call for a ride and left the room and Emil glanced at Lalli and Reynir, looked away.

”I'm sorry”, he said. ”For getting hurt.”

”It's my fault”, Reynir said. ”I should have been much careful.”

”You're both stupid”, Lalli sat down on the bed, ”but it doesn't matter now. Just be less stupid next time.”

”There won't be a next time because if there was I might actually lose my leg.”

”You're stupid.”

Lalli leaned towards Emil, kissed his head. Emil smiled.

”You think everyone's stupid.”

”They are, but you're the worst.”

”At least I'm not the dumb braid guy who shoots footballs at his boyfriends' faces.”

Emil winked at Reynir, smiled, but Reynir looked horrified.

”I didn't mean to shoot it at your face, I'm so sorry, I wish I could undo it!”

Emil blinked, patted the bed.

”Silly boy, come here.”

Reynir approached slowly, sat down on the bed as well and Emil pulled him into a hug.

”I'm not upset at you, okay? Accidents happens. Especially around me, for some reason.”

He yawned, nuzzled into Reynir's shoulder.

”It'll be okay... because I have you two.”

He was getting sleepy, now that the pain was subsiding. He just wanted to cuddle up with Lalli and Reynir and sleep until nothing hurt any longer. Not yet, he couldn't sleep yet, he had to stay awake until they were back home. Reynir hugged him and then gently shoved him into the pillow again. He saw Reynir and Lalli smiling towards each other and then he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

Everything hurt, but he knew it'd be alright. Because he had them.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I suck at endings, but we all knew that already. Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed another little story torturing Emil!


End file.
